Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Krave Beef Jerky is a brand owned by Krave Pure Foods, Inc. based out of Sonoma, CA. It started in 2011 by Jon Sebastiani, who got started in the food business working on his family's winery in Sonoma.

Knowing that many people have a negative connotation with jerky, he sought to market Krave to the "non-jerky eater". He designed packaging that didn't look like traditional jerky packaging, and came up with flavor names that would appeal to women and gourmet foodies. He also promoted the health qualities of his jerky, and stayed away from selling Krave in traditional markets like convenience stores and gas stations.

This Chili Lime beef jerky is described by the company's as "...tender slices of knuckle-cut domestic beef teamed with medium-hot chili and finally balanced with zesty lime...and its unique profile provides a dose of medium heat that partners well with the acidity of the citrus."

The first thing I taste from the surface of these pieces is a lot of sweet, with a moderate saltiness, and then followed by a chile pepper flavor, and a noticeable lime.

The chewing brings in much of the same tastes, but with touches of natural meat flavor. There's a light bit of heat welling up.

For being marketed as "Chili Lime", it seems to hold up well. I do taste the chile pepper and a resemblance of chili sauce, and there's definitely a citrus flavor much like lime that's hard not to notice. Overall the chile pepper flavor and the lime are equally as strong.

The level of heat in this feels "mild medium" on my personal heat scale (level 2 out of 5).

Otherwise, the flavors that seem to define this jerky overall starts with the sweetness that comes right off the bat, with the chile pepper flavor and lime coming in soon after, and taking over. Through the chewing, there's a light natural meat flavor.

Overall, it's a tasty jerky that delivers on its advertised flavor, with a good dose of sweetness.

Meat Consistency

These are slices of whole meat, sliced into slabs of small, medium, and large sizes, and sliced medium thickness.

This is a dry jerky with a slightly moist surface feel, and with a tender, easy chew. It doesn't chew dry, but feels slightly moist.

The chewing texture starts out feeling tender and soft, offering very little chewing resistance. It chews down easily and takes on a meaty feel, similar to thick sliced deli roast beef, but not quite as moist. Once chewed down to a soft mass, it feels very much like real meat, more comparable to roast beef.

I don't see any fat on these slices, but I do see gristle on a few of the larger pieces, some of which give off a rubbery chew. The chewing reveals a light amount of stringiness, but otherwise offers no unchewable tissues.

As far as clean eating goes, my fingers pick up some red pepper flakes, but otherwise no significant stickiness.

Snack Value

Krave Jerky typically sells for $6.99 per 3.25oz package in most stores. That works out to $2.15 per ounce.

For general jerky snacking purposes, at the $2.15 per ounce price, it's a good value. I'm getting a flavor that I find to be much better than other major brands, and a meat consistency that's easy to eat, chews like real meat, and offers pure meaty chew.

As for being a "Chili Lime" beef jerky, at the same $2.15 per ounce, it's also a good value. I'm getting a noticeable chili pepper flavor, at a medium level of heat, along with a noticeable lime.

Rating

I'm giving this a good rating.

This Chili Lime beef jerky from Krave Jerky tantalizes you with tangy blend of garlic chili sauce and squeezes of lime and lemon to create a very lively taste. A good dose of sweetness and light amounts of natural meat flavor help add to the snackability to create an overall enjoyable, lightly hot, snackable beef jerky experience.

This also comes in a tender, easy chew that feels just like eating real beef, without any stringiness or unchewable tissues, and doesn't leave your jaws muscles feeling wore out like other brands can do. The streaks of gristle I found in a few of the pieces were not to my liking, however, but I found the flavor to still be quite pleasing.

It still needed some other extra bit of flavor to really push this over the top to create that "wow factor", but I think it still outpaces other traditional brands.

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About Best Beef Jerky

I'm Steve Johnson, and I've been in the Internet marketing and publishing business since 1997. I've been a life-long fan of beef jerky and decided to merge my profession with my snack food of choice, and gave birth to Best Beef Jerky.

I review beef jerky, turkey jerky, bison jerky, pretty much any meat jerky, even vegan jerky. I review meat sticks, biltong, cecina, carne seca, it's all fair game as long as it's meat, it's dried, and it's a snack.